Women, labor market researchers note, look for different things in careers than men. Women want flexibility, for instance, the opportunity to balance work with other parts of life and the chance to make a positive difference. Ninety percent of the queries about non-profit jobs on my college’s career-networking email list come from women. Many bright and talented women work in tech jobs, but if more women prefer fixing sick children’s bodies or fixing problems in society to fixing computers, so be it.

In fact, if the Girl Scouts really want to reach gender parity in a field where more quality workers are urgently needed, they’d team up with the Boy Scouts and the Ad Council to run spots encouraging little boys to become elementary school teachers.